UNION SOLDIERS AWARDED MEDAL OF HONOR

 

Two Union soldiers who 162 years ago took part in one of America's first special operations were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Wednesday.

"Today we right that wrong. Today they finally receive the recognition they deserve," President Joe Biden said at a White House ceremony.

Descendants of Pvt. George Wilson and Pvt. Shadrach had received a long-awaited call from the White House telling them the Civil War heroes would be awarded the nation's highest military honor for "gallantry and intrepidity" in defense of the Union.

The Union soldiers -- acting as spies in civilian clothing -- managed to penetrate 200 miles into Confederate territory, where they commandeered a train -- "The General" -- and drove it 87 miles from Georgia to Tennessee.

In what became known as "The Great Locomotive Chase," on April 12, 1862, the Union raiders destroyed Confederate railroad tracks and telegraph lines -- earned 19 of the men Medals of Honor, becoming the first group of Army soldiers to receive it.

The ambitious plot, despite wreaking havoc, failed. The soldiers were captured. Some escaped and received their medals after the war, while a group of eight of the raiders -- including Wilson and Shadrach -- were tried and hanged by the Confederacy.

Because of what historians attribute to an oversight, Wilson and Shadrach never received the award posthumously.

 

To read the complete article, see:
Biden awards Medal of Honor to Civil War heroes, 162 years later (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-award-medal-honor-civil-war-heroes-162/story?id=111621246)

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